Continuous casting apparatus



June 6, 1950 N, P, G055 2,510,100

cou'rmuous CASTING APPARATUS s sheets-sheet 1 Filed March 9, 1946 IN VEN TOR. Nan/141v R G as;

BY Z a/40w; 0W

ATTORNEYS June 6, 1950 N. P. G055 2,510,100

cou'rmuous CASTING APPARATUS Filed March 9, 1946 3 SheetsSheet 2 23 25 RwaI E INVENTOR.

A/a/mmv 1. 6 66 14 7' TORNE 76 June 6, 1950 N, P, G055 2,510,100

CONTINUOUS CASTING APPARATUS Filed March 9, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 mmvrozz. NORHAN F. Gem

A TTORNEYJ Patented June 6, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTINUOUS CASTING APPARATUS Norman P. Goss, Mayfield Heights, Ohio Application March 9, 1946, Serial No. 653,285

6 Claims. (01. 22-512) This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for continuously casting metal while passing a stream of metal through a die open at both ends.

An object of the present invention is to provide a die structure which may expand and contract substantially .in every direction when subjected to the high temperatures encountered in casting iron, steel, and their alloys from the molten condition so as to avoid die distortion and to maintain long life and accuracy for the continuous casting apparatus while producing a casting of high-grade quality.

Another object of the invention is to provide a die the walls of which are composed of short sections supported in a novel manner and providing means for the introduction ofmaterlal between the sections adapted to facilitate the movement of the metal stream through the die.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for supporting a plurality of die sections in alinement while permitting the relative movement in each section and between sections as is required to accommodate expansion and contraction encountered during a casting operation.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and description, and the essential features will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a die constructed according to my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 5 are fragmental sectional views somewhat enlarged and taken along similarly numbered lines of Fig. 2; I

Fig. 4 is a perspective view through a portion of the die slightly exploded and with some of the parts broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction; while 7 Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a small filler member used in one portion of the apparatus.

My improved continuous casting apparatus will be best understood from a consideration of Figs. 1 and 4. I have illustrated a die for casting what is known in the trade as a slab, although it will be well understood by those skilled in this art that many other shapes may be cast using the same principles for construction of the apparatus, the slab being rectangular in cross-section as illustrated by the space marked I0 in Fig. 2. At the four comers of the rectangular slab are vertical corner posts II each generally square in section and having a fixed mounting on a base I2. Side wall members I3 serve to close the longer sides of the rectangle, and end wall members I4 close the shorter sides of the rectangle so as to provide the central enclosed passageway I0.

In use the molten metal is fed into the top of the die by any suitable means to the passageway III, and the metal is congealed as it passes downwardly through the die, generally aided by pinch rolls or the like which draw the congealed metal away from the bottom of the die. The rolls can do little more than hold the cast slab of red hot metal. The casting at its existing temperature will stand practically no tension. Therefore the walls of the mold must remain in almost exact vertical alinement or the bar will not come through. This present invention maintains such vertical alinement.

Referring now to Fig. 4, in the faces of the post I I are cut grooves I la for supporting the side wall members I3 for each section of the die. In a similar fashion other grooves IIb are cut, preferably but not necessarily at the same level as the grooves Ila, in sides of the post II at right angles to the first-named sides, these grooves IIb being for the purpose of supporting the end wall members I4. It will be noted from Fig. 4 that the side wall members I3 are generally rectangular in form and provided with laterally extending ears I3a at the two upper corners, these cars being adapted to slide in the grooves I la for the purpose of suspending the side members I3 in the corner posts. The members l3 are hollow to permit the introduction of water or other cooling liquid, but since the details of this cooling system have no further connection with the present invention, they will not be described here. In like manner, the end wall members I l have. at their upper corners the laterally extending ears Ha which are adapted to slide in the grooves II b so as to suspend the members I4 in the comer posts I I. Extending inwardly from each end member I4 beyond the faces of the corner posts is a tongue portion Ilb which is the full depth of the end member and of such a width that it just fits slidingly between the inner faces of the parallel side wall members I3.

Each of the side wall members extends downwardly to a plane I3b which is slightly spaced from the top face I30 of the next member beneath it, and this space is utilized for the introduction of a lubricant by which term both here and in the claims I intend to indicate any material which will facilitate the passage of the conwall members and between I40 and Md in the I case of the end wall members, vertical expansion and contraction of all these members is possible. This vertical expansion and contraction will slightly change the dimension of the lubricant feeding port, but this is of no practical importance.

There is a slight play between the end walls 13d of the members l3 and the adjacent faces of the comer posts II. This clearance space 35 (Fig. 3) permits horizontal expansion and contraction of the side wall members l3 in the direction of their length. These side wall members are held in position by the anchor plates l6 which extend across the longer dimension of the die opposite each feeder port and are secured to the corner posts I l by means of bolts l'l.

Across the shorter dimension of the die at each of the feeder ports is secured an anchor plate 3 which is fastened to the corner posts I I by means of the bolts [9 which pass through slotted openings in the plate [8. This permits expansion and contraction of the end wall members l4 in the direction of their length, that is to say, across the shorter ends of the rectangle. and contraction is resisted by means of bolts which extend through parallel anchor plates I6 on opposite sides of the die and outside of the end members 14. Beneath the bolt head of each bolt 20 is secured a short, stifi, helical spring 2i which always maintains a tension across the shorter dimension of the die.

Means is provided for introducing lubricant at each of the feeding ports previously described. This lubricant may be finely comminuted and dry, or it may be in paste form, or it may be in block form. For purposes of illustration only, and by no means as a limitation, I have shown finely comminuted material 22 arranged to be fed through the side feeder ports 23 and lubricant in block form 24 to be fed through the end feeder ports 25. At the side feeder ports, hoppers 26 are mounted on the anchor plates l6, and the finely comminuted material 22 is placed in each hopper. Communicating with the bottom of each hopper is a passageway 26a which registers with the feeder port 23. A plunger 21 fits slidably into the passageway 26a, and means is provided for pressing upon the plunger 21 to feed the lubricant material through the port 23. In the form hereshown, a bell crank 28 is pivotally mounted on the hopper 26 and is urged by a weight 29 in a direction to drive the plunger 21 inwardly. Obviously, by moving the bell crank 28 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, the plunger 21 may be drawn outward far enough to permit additional material 22 to be discharged from the hopper 26 into the passageway 26a.

Referring now momentarily to Figs. 2, 4, and 6, it will be noted that each side feeder port 23 is not the full length of the longer dimension of the die because of the end tongues Mb. I, therefore, use the small filler members 30 of Fig. 6 to fill in these corners and to guide the lubricant as desired as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Each member 30 This expansion 4 may consist of an L-shaped s.;lp of metal or the like 30:: to which is attached a liner 30b oi a resilient sealing material adapted to withstand heat such as asbestos, brake lining, or very thin metal. The vertical depth of one of these feeder ports 23 or 25 is approximately one-quarter inch, and

I find that a vertical dimension of the strip 300 of approximately three-sixteenths inches with the resilient liner extending beyond the upper and lower edges will serve my purpose.

At the end feeder ports 25, I have shown means for feeding the lubricant blocks 24. To each anchor plate I8 is secured a hopper 3| as best seen in Figs. 1 and 3. The bottom of each hopper communicates with a horizontal passageway 3la which registers with the feeder port 25. A reciprocating plunger 32 fits slidably into the passageway 3| a. A bell crank 33 and a weight 24 urges the plunger 32 inwardly. Preferably, means is provided for supporting the blocks 24 in the hopper 3| so that they will feed in a proper manner to the passageway 3la. The means here shown comprises the parallel walls Ilb between which the blocks 24 are adapted to slide. Upon oscillation of hell crank 33 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3, the plunger 32 may be drawn outwardly far enough to permit an additional block 24 to drop into the passageway 3la. The rolls can do little more than hold the cast slab of red hot metal. The casting at its existing temperature will stand practically no tension. Therefore the walls of the mold must remain in almost exact vertical alinement or the bar will not come through. This present invention maintains such vertical alinement.

It will be clear now from the above description that I have provided a die having a central passageway open at both ends and in which the die walls are composed of relatively short sections as measured in the direction of the length of the die, say of the order of six to twenty-four inches. The vertically alined side walls on any one side of the die have lubricant feeder ports between them, and this permits vertical expansion of the side wall sections. At the same time, two expedients are provided for permitting expansion of a side wall in a horizontal direction. In the case of the longer walls I3, I have left the slight space 35, previously described, which permits expansion in this direction. The space here cannot permit the escape of molten or slightly congealed metal from the die passageway because the spaces 35 are overlapped by the tongues l4b as clearly seen in Fig. 3. The other expedient is the bolt-and-slot connection described in connection with plate It and bolts l9 together with the expansion bolts 20 which takes care of the expansion across the smaller dimension of the die horizontally measured. At the same time the corner posts I maintain vertical alinement of the die sections, and

the introduction of lubricating material at the ports 23 and 25 between the sections aids the movement of the metal column through the die as described in my Patent Number 2,225,373, granted December 17, 1940.

In the construction of the die as described in this application, I may choose to use the step construction described in my above-mentioned copending application in which case the crosssectional dimensions of the die would be increased slightly at each feeder port so that the passageway l0 becomes slightly larger at various zones as the metal moves downwardly in the die.

Such details arenot shown here because the posts parallel to the longitudinal dimension oi.

said die, plates extending between said posts and forming side walls for said die completely enclosing the sides of said passageway, each of said side walls being composed of a plurality of vertically alined plates, each of said plates having end projections at its upper edge extending laterally outwardly, there being horizontally extending grooves in the posts at the ends of the side walls, said end projections extending into said grooves, whereby said projections interlock with said posts and substantially prevent vertical movement of the associated plate, means holding said plates against movement away from said central passageway, one or said plates in a given wall extending downwardly from said upper edge toward another of said plates in the same wall and stoppingshort oi said other plate to provide a clear space between said plates, whereby said one plate may expand downwardly into the adjacent space without warpage.

2. A die as in claim 1 wherein said passageway is rectangular in section having two mutually opposed pairs of side walls, and one pair of said side walls having portions telescopingly fitting between and closely against the inner surfaces of the other pair of said side walls.

3. A die for the continuous casting of metal, comprising coacting vertical walls entirely surrounding a central passageway on its several sides and fixed vertical posts spaced about said walls and supporting them, said passageway being open at the top for the introduction of molten metal and being open at the bottom for the continuous removal of molded metal, said wall on each of said sides comprising substantially vertically alined separate wall portions with a free space between them permitting vertical expansion of said wall portions, inter-engaging parts between said wall portions and posts including horizontal Projections coacting with recesses of limited vertical extent holding a horizontal zone of each of said wall portions fixed against vertical movement, and means for filling said spaces between vertically alined wall portions with lubricant adapted to contain metal within the die passageway and to provide lubrication between the congealing metal and said walls.

4. A die for the continuous casting of metal comprising four fixed vertical posts at the tour corners of a. rectangle, side and end wall members substantially enclosing the four sides of said rectangle leaving a central passageway open for the passage of metal, each side of said rectangle being composed of a plurality of vertically alined separate wall members, inter-engaging parts between said wall members and posts including horizontal projections coacting'with recesses of limited vertical extent holding said wall members against vertical movement and against horizontal movement away from said central passageway, there being slight spaces between vertically alined wall members on each side oi said rectangle, said side wall members having clearance to expand in the general plane of each of said side walls, and said end wall members having a telescoping fit between the inner surfaces of said side wall members. a

5. A die as in claim 4 including means for filling said spaces between vertically alined wall members with lubricant adapted to contain the metal in said central passageway there adjacent.

6. A die for the continuous casting of metal comprising four fixed vertical posts at the four corners of a rectangle, side and end wall members substantially enclosing the four sides of said rectangle leaving a central passageway open for the passage of metal, each side of said rectangle being composed of a plurality of vertically alined separate wall members, inter-engaging parts between said wall members and posts including horizontal projections coacting with recesses of limited vertical extent holding said wall members against vertical movement and against horizontal movement away from saidcentral passageway, there being slight spaces between vertically alined wall members on each side of said rectangle, and means yieldably clamping two of said wall members on opposite sides or said rectangle between their supporting posts, whereby said two yieldingly clamped wall members may expand each in its own general plane.

. NORMAN P. GOSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Certificate of Correction Patent 'No. 2,510,100 June 6, 1950 NORMAN P. GOSS 1 It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above 7 numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 4, line 29, beginning with The rolls can strike out all to and including the words and period vertical ahnement/f 1n line 35, and insert instead the following- The blocks 24 of gra hite or the like retain metal in the mold passageway and provide mold between the edge 1860] one wall section and the edge 1800] the adjacent wall section below it;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to the recordof the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of- October, A. D 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oonmiuioner of Patents. 

